The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced Thursday that it supports the House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders on their bipartisan, bicameral agreement on the Consolidated Appropriations Act.
The act, which includes funding the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (THUD), fully funds the public transit contract authority as well as funds a majority of the additional public transit and passenger rail funds authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed last year.
“We are encouraged to see the House honor the promise of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by providing the guaranteed public transit funding of the IIJA for Fiscal Year 2022,” said APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas. “This is a transformational investment in public transportation infrastructure that our country so desperately needs. Together with the additional funds provided for public transit and passenger rail, these historic and generational investments will enable our communities to provide access to opportunities and create family-wage jobs, advance equity, tackle climate change, and meet growing and evolving mobility demands.”
The THUD Appropriations bill appropriates $16.3 billion for public transit, an increase of $3.3 billion over Fiscal Year 2021. When added to the advance appropriations with the IIJA, Congress will provide $20.5 billion to public transit in FY 2022, an increase of 58 percent over 2021 to $7.6 billion
The legislation will also provide $3.4 billion of passenger and freight rail investments, up from $483 million in FY 2021. Combined with the investments from the IIJA, the funding raises to $16.6 billion for passenger and freight rail, a 475 percent increase over FY 2021 to $13.7 billion.
The group urged Congress to pass the appropriations bill quickly.